Once again, we visit the lives of New Orleans Sheriff Dave Robicheuax (age 74) and his buddy, Clete Purcell. This time the novel is set in the mountains of Montana. It's Burke's 20th novel with these two buddies, different in that both have their daughters with them this time, Alastair, Dave's adopted daughter, and Gretchen Horowitz, who Clete discovers he fathered many years ago. This time they chase an escaped serial killer, Asa Surette along with the Younger family, Love the patriarch, the evil capitalist and his effete son, Caspian.
Both Dave and Clete, and their daughter's get mixed up in religious fanatics, red necks, ex LA police and the Younger family, out to drain every last ounce of oil out of Montana. For some reason, Surrette has survived an accident killing everyone but him when he was being transferred from one prison to another in Kansas. After his escape, he comes to Montana, looking for Robicheuax and hist daughter Alastair, to settle debts, like putting him in jail, and writing books about him. The plot is far fetched, though the characters are interesting with the exception of Surrette, who is made out to be the coming again of a Charlie Manson, killing and brutalizing young women when ever he has the urge. He's finally tracked down, shot dead by Clete, I think, and both Younger's are killed by the end though Dave and Clete and their daughters survive to live another day. Surprise.
As I have said before, I am not going to read Burke for awhile and I now remember why I stopped reading him twenty odd years ago, the same stories told over again, just different players. This one also had Burke's attempts to rationalize the place of evil in our world, especially animals like Surrette. There are many twists and turns that I have not summarized, which is why the book is quite a long read. I did not hate but was glad when I was done.
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